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https://www.fepl.ca/localhistory/files/original/6dc5c33c8b5edc5be4fe9c3dfa9f55c0.pdf
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J
In uune of
1834 Col. Kerby wrote the Private Secrete>.ry
to
was
commence,
str�ight line,
by the Government Warehouse at
cross
in thr ravine,
and
in the River;
bend
thirty
and
furlongs
got close
below his warehouse at Fort Erie,
•
in
to pass
Fort Erie,
or
Colborne, to solicit support for his "3hip Cf!inal" at
it
Fort Erie.
and
-··
"'rHE SHIP
John
of Sir.
CANAL ON THE NAIGARA"::: 1834.
K;ERBY:::
wl;lole lengtJ!l to be
the
seven
in shore,in
a
by
the high s«ndy ledge
by
a
curving to the head
poles;
secure
1'rom 12f t
and
bay,
mttlled Snliil ke r!ill;
rocky ledge rurill ing west,
mile and
one
to 2 Oft.
sheltered
of the bay,
five
of w&.ter to be
protect
by winds
thurther protected
south west, under sandy
This
�����·
\..,'
Ca.nal would be behind
a
short distill. nee,
and
in the Village,
<ind
cut into
the River for
from the landing pier of the fer:ry boat,
in deep
water •
.Che. Village at this
and
one
l!'erry
there and
was
George Lewis's place at
There
leauit
was
to. be
time staggled around
one
the foot
a
lock at
possible delay to vessels
advantage to
was
one
lock
of
the lower end"
�so ending,
and
er
both to give
to give
confer upon this
;
a.nd
a
the full es.t
place;
a
thing
portion of the
of five
even
the
tons
burden,
steam boats
was
:found
to be
of limestone,
and any excavated material,
and
and
of firs t
load gates •t the upper end.
roc.k-bed underneath
btlild.ing the itl.ocks,
of
�atherine.
of
to accomosd te bo�.ts
vessels drawing twelve ft.
belo•,v ".&'ort Erie"
the lower river in front
in itself suff.icient to warrant
expenc e't' The C a nal
for
on
the Vitst power it would
most wanted and
· Class; with
was
and
rock
:fit
�in the neighbourhood.
could be sold
l�ilroad h�d just obtained
a
�-nd Ontario
The Erie
Ch�rte:r,
which this C�nal Comp.
and
encouraged
interest
was
intending to compliment;
the
project; especially since the Port Of Chippewa
this
>
with the opening of the
Port Robinson
to the Welland River
imedilite sect.ion,,
A meeting
draw up
a
lland
new
were
Petition to
,
and
at Chippewa and
held in
we.ts
eanal,
1834 �lnd
the Lieut.
�
in
thriving
wus
from L�ke Ont� rio to
ills
the Grist
in the
Fort Erie.
Coremi ttee appointed
to
Govenor:::
The Petition of Alexander Douglas,
Charles
Jones, George
kac. A.en.zie, Edmund Riselity, Willi�urc Bue k, Issac Hawn, Issac
Johnson,
J'acoo Gitnder, John w.- Lewis,
Wilson,
and 1.:reorge
A
Above members
inhabitants
There
last.
of
of the sllil_id +,mvnship of
was
given to Kerby to
no
the
a
use
between Lake Erie &,
'S.ertie,
of Aug.
in wh ich
free water--commun-
it
that because of
could
having sometimes
�hat the·inhabitil.nts
o:f the
petition)
a
sailing vessles
recently completed Canal
avoid the Rapids.
the 24
on
forward(
to
meeting
a
th�; Niagara River;
strong fHvour�ble wind;
of the
To1mship o:f Bertie, Esquire:
tural impediments
the strength of these rapids,
with
the
Johnson, t.Jacob
the Committee appointed
the enumera.ted the
ication,
rdison of
James
only ascend
to resort
in th� U :�s
:·A:
,
o:f the :frontier
to
were
inconvenienced for the want of water power
various
Eills
on
the American
wan1; of utilities
on
the
other hydraulic
having to be used :for
purposes;
'.!?'his mad;e the Canadians completely dependent
on
to
s
Canadian
the Amerio
·
�at
•
their
the
liind
wool,
sawing of lumber;
ice
when the
available
WRS
these services.were not
and
pass
to
Canal,
greater advantlii ges then this
wherl the
develop themselves,
and Ontario Railwe�d,
lie dormant
,
.until
The matter
referred
w�s
give
opinion, until
of great importance
�nfortunately
Petit�pn
was
to
a
new
the Royal
servey
w�s
not brought up,
but
(Dr.
18th.,
reading
d ent
incorporate
cana l
on
,
on
Feb
generally.
Dec.
Douglas's
the Niagara River below the,
which reported
of Jan.
although deeming
7th., 1836 another
Father)
and 88
asking for per-
construction,Comp."from Fort Erie
by the Niagara Member; and it
com.mi ttee,
to
during the following stormy session; of
a
duQed
impossible
it
made;
mi ssi on to
on
soon
En�ineer) Capt.
to Bertie & Fort Erie
from Alexander Douglas
place
could
these
and
who st<i!ted
Willoughby townships,
some
ststed:;
but most to certain extent,
others from Bertie and
to
of the
]:ir9posed ,c:im�rovements, �nd the Erie
Richard) Bonnycastle;
it
Reserved .:;:,, &nds
�ajor Kerby
id
s
then."
sir
Parliament;
for the
Riagar:ra frontier, possess
neighbourhood;
completed,
•re
( later
an
or
In his 1'orwf1rding letter
"'fh&.t very few pl&ce along the
it
petiti oned
throueh l\f�ili tary Reserve,
Crown of Fort Eri.:e.
spring.
during winter and
running,
remedy all this The Committee,
�o
tlaJ
carding & manufacturing
for making flour,
price;
own
favour11,bly
was
,
R11.pids'f
referred
to
to Parlita.ment
was
a
intro/
specfai
on
the
1837. However when it came up for the third
14th;.,, William Hamil tom 1'�erri t, moved
that nothing in the
Bill should effect the
an
rights
�mmen-
�a.nd
powers
of the Welland Can&l Company; and this
final consent
in March.
upon the heels
the country,
an
a
civil strife
,
:following
,
,
throughout
which m<'ii. de borrowing for such
enterprise almost impossible; the FORT ERIE SHIP CANAL,
slow death;
for
and Fort Erie lost
to
However due to hard times
of Commercial & Industrial failures
and
given
was
the
its
:first spadeful
chance
vie ·";i th Buffalo, which it
of sod,
to become
once
a
was
never
d i ed
turned;
comp
r .er6ial metropo les
overshadowed.
�..
�Tn 1838 (fames ierby wss in command
QueenTs
OW'lfl Fencibl.es filt Waterloo; which met a.t the old Drill i.:;ihed on
Waterloo St .. , near Queen , west side. '"'It� consisted o:f upwards o:f
600 men; including & Company o:f the 24th Reg. who were served by
the Rev. John Anderson o:f St. Paul's P&rish, in Wate rloo.
�'
o! the
.
•
....
\
.
..
·
·..
Capts. §amuel Usher.
�ames Egen
Lts.
J. Usher
W.B . Roberts
J no. Mc. Wilson
Adj.
Dennis Kerby
!:dmund Riselay
Joseph Cls.rk
Eng .
W:lll liam Thompson
Roberts
.lienneth Reid
James Hoggan
g.eorge
Surgeons- William Sutherland &
Assistant
•
•
Quartermaster
K ..
Roberts
Aneus Hall
John
.....
artin.
"Fort Erie, J uly 18th, 1838.
"Col. the HonbleJames Kerby
"We, t.he undersigned officers of the Queens Niagara Fencibles,
no:va�ut.tQ bedisbanded, feel desirous of shewing our respect and
���to you as Col. of the Corps. We therefore beg your acceptÂ
aQCe of the accompanying small but.sincere testimonial of the kmd
fej:!lings we have entertained towards you. With the best wishes
for the future Welfare and happiness of yourself and Family We will
ev�.r remain your sincere and devoted Friends.
C1.1.ptains
Ensigns.
1 G. W. Webster
1 James S. Egan
2. Kenneth Reid
2. Edmund Risela:r,
3 James Hogan
3 George H. Sheehan
4 Alexr. Douglas
4 John Mylne
5 William Duff
5 Wm. A. Rooth
6 C. H. Leonard
6 Henry Foot
7 John Ussher
Pay Mastr.
Kenneth Robertson
8 C. W. Grange
Lieutenants.
Surgeons.
William. Sutlie.rJand
1 Wm. E. Roberts
Cyrenius �,·�
-
/
i
�KERBY
. -
�nd
-the..
o:rt Erie
�
.
On M�irch 6 he w.1s directed to bargain for
twn thuman<I h11shcls on the River Thames.
On April IO they
nb�ervcd th;it he l1.1J pmcl1.1se1l 16)0 bushels and stated their hopes
tlrnt he would llbtain tWP tlwus;ind. On M:1v J,, he is in-formed that
ther h;1Ye th,1r1c1c1\ the schoPncr I'ff.rn·cr:111cc to convey their wheat
Ill FPrt Enc Jn,\ he w.1s i11structell t\l ship one thousand bushels
011 June 1, the\· \\'l'\ltC th.it he h:tLl their authority
on 1'1>J1d her.
tp !'"" \/ \'Cr bi1shc\ {pr ,lllll(\lcr t\HH1S:111L\ bushels, :dthough the
l'flCC 1'""\ .a h" t Frie l\\dls. Chi\'\'·1w:1. :111ll Queens ton lud fallen
()11 J1111e �th the Fff.1rrft'1111ce lud returned from Kettle
ctim1clct·;i\,h·
C1eck with who\ .111<l llnur. ;1.1i.l :is S\.lllll :ts she was unloaded, which
would h: the next J;1.y, she \Yl'lild s:til for S.1nd,,vich, if the wind
rennittctl, l\' t:lkC I'll bo:lrll the whc.lt: he had on hand. On June
11, thCY st';itc\\ tlut ;1. Sl"'"' JicJ,,ngin:� ro them loaded with wheat
frp111 ;l YC��c\ ;lt f.,rt Fnc h;1d �1111k in the opids but the cargo had
been �;i,·cll. Next d;1y they 111frmncJ him \hev would send 715 bags
f\1r �lntTing ,,·hc:H. On .J11nc 1 ) , the Prr.rt1•tr,m.:r was �till at Fort
Erie h;1rhour, waiting for a fair wind. On June i.9 they announced
that the Perseverance had sailed with bags on board and directed
Askin to ship not less than l.l.OO bushels on her. He was instructed
to "engage" all the wheat he could, even if he had to pay ) J per
bushd for it, Jelivered at Sandwich. On July IO, they had sent
n� bags oo the Pemvcrance and the wheat shipped. in her had arrived
in ''petfect good order." They ,,rere glad to learn that Askin was
likelv to increase: the quantity punhased. by him to five or six thouÂ
sana bushels. On July 'l.8, they remarked that the price of wheat
ha� fallen but bopeJ he woul<l continue to bay to the extent of
six th'Ousand busbds If he oould do it at 4/ to 4/6 per bused or
e'\'a1 ) / for a good lot as an inducement, ''but it is the extent you
ought to pay for the present, lower if you possibly can." On Aug- I
uS't 10, the Perswet·ance had 1ust discharged her cargo of wheat from
the Ri,rer Tua.mes and would return for more. On August i.i., he I
was told that Keri:" had gone with '.1is �amily to .\von S�nngs ,
the State of New ) ork, for the benel1t ot the1r health. \\ heat wa.c
do,,'11 a�air. in Montre-al and l1e ,,-as caut;o,1ed 1ot to pay more than
•
•
inl
4/6 per bushel.
"The wheat of the present year is not worth with
us as much as that of last year by 1/6 per bushel." On August 30,
they stated that the Perseverance had arrived with a thousand bushels
I
of wheat and had sailed the dav before for another cargo from Kettle
Creek. On September 13 Ke by was absent attending the Assizes
at Niagara. The schooner Talbot had arrived the day before. They
;
had received a part of her cargo and the remainder had been unloaded
at Fort Erie. On November i., Askin was informed that the absence
of Kerby attending the Quarter Sessions and the adjourned Assizes
immediately after for the last three weeks had precluded hi m from
going into his accounts. Finally, on November 1.7 they inquired
whether he would be able to act as their agent for the purchase of
wheat on the same terms as before.
g aote:
from Kerby
by Col E.A.
cruikshanK.
1820, Gran t And Kerby took a step to provide for the
110n Feb.
fut1re p1rchase of the Grist M ill at Fort Erierapids, from William Dunbar .
The Mill had been
built some-thirty years before by , and Dunbar had cut
a
canal
through
with w a t e r from
solid rock
for a
the river .
it
considerable dist a n c e
escaped destr�ction
for s1pplying
during the war,
1812.
it
•
�JAMES KERBY-----·- and THE FORT ERIE MILL:::::
•
In 1796 Thomas Clark went into Partnership w it h a Samuel St., and '·a Robert
Nichol. It lasted three years; and they built warehouses at Queenston,
cnippewa, and Fort Er ie . In tne early 1800's A Robert Grant went into
Partnersnlp with James Kerby and t n ey leas ed these warehouses
Clark &
of
st.
Fort, was taken
w ar e h o us e that stood JUSt south of the Old
· The stone
over by tne Government in 1812;
and they he ld i t till t he troops left,1813.
It was soon afterwards burnt by the e n e my . The war h ad done great d am a g e to
g1l''*'nt & l}erby'sholdings in thr distric � ; however they kept the partnership
arid tookrup again as forwardrrs and shippers of Merchandise from ov:er the
Niag&�a Portage to Fort Erie .
In
1�20 Robert Grant took over the Mill property at Fort $rie ,
from a William Dunbar. Tnis Mill was situated at the head of the
Rapids,
Waterloo
auout 3/4 of a mile upstream from the
Ferry landing at the
loot of! Cathe.rine St. A M.hann el wa s d eepe ned in t he rock along the s hore �
.,
1ine
of the river to make
''The MILL RACE". The next closest Mill was
Chippawa; so all the wheat grown w i th in ten miles of the village was
Brought to
Fort Erie Mills. In order to keep the Mill fully employed, it
was necessary to import g rain from other areas; and this entailed a great
deal of work for Kerby and
his partner.
During the winter the Mill was c�
often idle, because of the ice jams in the Hiver; and at other times of
the year it was out of operation for the lack of s uffi cie 9 t wat er. Ker by
s a ugh t help from the Government to have a c a n al built; wg��h w o u ld no t only
a s s u re a plentiful supply of water, b u t would allow safe
p a s s a g e of boats
·upstream in the area of the Rapids. 'to thurther this d r eam a co mm i t t e e of
prominate men i
the Village formed, and for several years heated discussions
for and against this vent�re were heard around the Village. Finally the
idea was shelved because of the financial reasons , and also
lack of. interest in the right places.
I
In
1823,
Grant & Kerby s � 1d a third of their inte!
.......
'��� E § �0 tb� Mill.•
to Benjamin Hardison. He died �:>hortly after �nd Kerby
took over operations.
In 1831 Grant & Kerby broke up their Partnership, and K er b y � wen t into ·
business on his own. Poor fuealth, and the pressure of other Public
offices,
made hls Mill uripro.fitable ; and he sold out
to Buffalo .. interests, in
L'.*'�- Qn J£1I1 14th 182J W illiam Dup.b�.r gave Kerby a a11lt. o1:ff..i�m .4ft'�cLI >f .J:l:fs •
interests in the. Fort Erie tv1111s for the surrl of' one t'hou�n�r
·pounds. ':
ke�by w�s giv�n the Superitendance of the Ferry in 1040, and th � �a�e
year he had Wgrfs anda warehouse b�ilt. H:e employed Nelson Forsyth for
tt:ti.s �ob, and for the job of running his Ferry. The new la nd ing was moved
�am from the foot of Catherine, i)3rd. of a mile from the old Landing,
u.s .closer to the Mill. He approached the Government to make this place
.f;.Qial landing� and for years fa '..l ght this out with them and the owners
0.1:� Ferry.
·
•
·
·
..
"•i'i
''With
.. ··�;��;;����.,. I8}Cl·
1d6ma£� � Grant & K�b1·''s1;ktt:er �nd�hte of die
&ns� ro which ha.s b� 1ui;t rece1.ved, & we no�ed
lea.ve, to acquaint you that �>Ur oo-�artnerslup,
for nearly twentr years, will be �issolved h.Y
t),�t on the 3Ist instant,'.A:n d that the business at th� s,
.r. �h11it ·period will be conda�ted by �ysell: I shall con�
purchase wheat as usual; And if yo':1 �ill cgnse�t to pecome
g¢nt; in your Quarter, ��er the condmons contained 1q yo�+
'ia$t received in relation ��reto, I shall be pleased. You wdl
�� ·:p,l'i��.d to confirm •.the underst�nd.i ng, if �ound agreeable to. yo.. u.,
and .t:o 111struct me at your earliest con.vemence how I shall pay
}'Put drafts, or remit you.
..
.
.
�·G & K wrote you on the 17th.. mstant.
t1'mNo"1;!,,
an
11tertts, I beg
as existed
•.
·
··
. On 14th 'of January, 1831, Willi�m Dunbar gave Kerby a quit
clilm' deed ot bis �-,�·;,;j�,;�e..}dills, for the sum of one
t}Iotis-.dc:pounds.
.
.
�
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Louis McDermott Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Local history, Fort Erie and surrounding area.
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of historical documents, photos, news clippings, letters, and writings, assembled by local historian, Louis McDermott, and donated to the Fort Erie Public Library.
Creator
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Louis McDermott
Source
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FEPL-LH -Louis McDermott
Language
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English
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Included in this collection are writings, historical documents, news clippings, images, maps, and more. They were written and compiled by Louis McDermott into a series of binders. The digital collection has been scanned from these physical copies.
Contributor
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Fort Erie Public Library and Louis McDermott
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
"The Ship Canal on the Niagara" and other documents relating to James Kerby.
Description
An account of the resource
"The Ship Canal on the Niagara" tells the story of James Kerby requesting support for a ship canal at Fort Erie. Other documents include his military involvement with "the Queen's Own Fencibles" and his dealings with a local grist mill.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Louis McDermott Collection
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1820, 1830, 1834, 1838
1800s
Fort Erie
Louis Mcdermott Collection